


Midnight Snack

by pinkzombierobot



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Gen, Post-Endgame, Rocket...not as much but he tries, Thor Is A Good Person, Trauma, do NOT read if you don't want Endgame spoilers, mentions of the other Guardians and Thanos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-03-07 04:48:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18866029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkzombierobot/pseuds/pinkzombierobot
Summary: Rocket Raccoon opens up to Thor after sneaking into the kitchen for a snack. A short scene that takes place a little after the events of Endgame.





	Midnight Snack

**Author's Note:**

> Just a small warning, there is a bit of fat shaming in this fic (just one line) to keep the characters true to their portrayal in the movie, but UNLIKE the movie, I am not trying to pass it as comedy.

Rocket crept into the kitchenette, the emptiness in his stomach having woken him up from a rather nasty dream that he was keen to avoid revisiting. Although the rest of the ship was dark—save for several small lights that continuously flickered from the automatic control systems that kept the ship not only moving, but at optimal living conditions—the kitchenette was dimly lit by the open refrigerator, indicating that Rocket was not the only one up and prowling for a midnight snack.

A tall figure stood over the tiny counter-top that doubled as a table, their back to Rocket, humming quietly. Rocket’s ears twitched; for a sleep-weary moment, he couldn’t place the deep, warm voice to anyone on the ship, though the lack of recognition didn’t frighten him. It was a pleasant sound, a comforting sound, reminiscent of the rumble deep within Groot’s chest when Rocket would fall asleep in his arms, so many years ago. He missed those times dearly.

Then the figure turned, light illuminating thick golden hair and a long braided beard. Thor smiled as he noticed Rocket watching him.

“I see you’re looking for a light snack, too.” Thor gestured to his own “light snack”—a towering sandwich with a nauseating amount of meats and cheeses piled between several thick slices of bread. Rocket could swear there were several whole pickles jammed into their own layer.

“If that’s your idea of a light snack, no wonder you’re the size of a whale,” Rocket muttered, ducking past Thor towards the fridge. Thor didn’t respond, and Rocket tried to concentrate on finding whatever Thor hadn’t already piled into his abomination of a sandwich. There wasn’t much, and Rocket settled on a container of apple slices. He peeled off the label with Mantis’ name written in curly letters and tossed it into the garbage. She probably wouldn’t even notice.

He turned and saw that Thor had not moved a muscle, his eyes focused on some distant point and a slight frown creasing his eyebrows. Rocket’s heart sank.

“Somethin’ the matter, big guy?” Rocket asked, almost shutting the refrigerator door until he realized the dinky little light was the only thing keeping the kitchen from being cast into complete darkness. He let out an embarrassed chuckle as he pulled the door back open. Thor’s sorrowful gaze had moved to him, and in retrospect Rocket got the uncomfortable feeling he’d intruded on something by entering the kitchen.

But Thor only smiled, his eyes glittering with moisture. “Of course not,” he said. He nodded towards his sandwich. “Just looking for some food and…and drink. But you don’t seem to have anything to drink aboard this ship, that is, nothing alcoholic, so I had to make do with the sandwich.” Thor’s smile looked painful, and Rocket almost regretted dumping out the ship’s supply of booze before Thor had come onboard (that was, of course, not including Peter’s supply of hard liquor he’d been steadily rebuilding since his return, which he’d hidden under lock and key to prevent Thor from finding it).

“Ah.” Rocket shuffled his feet awkwardly, then made the decision to climb onto the stool next to Thor, settling himself down and resting his elbows on the counter. “See me, I had some bad dreams and thought I’d wash ‘em away with some grub. Nothing like food to make you feel better, am I right?” He opened his ill-gotten apples and offered one to Thor, who hesitantly took one.

“What were your dreams about, if you don’t mind me asking?” Thor looked steadfastly at the apple in his hand, and Rocket decided it wouldn’t hurt to tell Thor, not any more than it had hurt him every single night that he’d had this particular dream. Besides, he felt as though he owed Thor for interrupting his privacy.

“It’s one I’ve not had in a while,” he admitted, fiddling with the plastic lid. “But I used to have it all the time. It’s one, well. You know I was made in a lab, right? Loads of fun. And in the dream…in the dream we don’t escape. Me and Groot.”

Thor frowned, and Rocket could see his attempts at mental math causing the rusty wheels behind his eyes to turn. He corrected him before Thor could say anything.

“Not the Groot you’ve met. His father. He died a long time ago, when we were saving the galaxy from that Kree guy, Ronan.”

“They can have kids?” Thor asked, expression incredulous. Rocket couldn’t help himself.

“Uh, doy? How else you think the Kree Empire spread throughout the galaxy?”

Thor gave Rocket a confused look. “No, I meant the tree—“

“I know what you meant,” Rocket grumbled. “It was joke. And no, of course Groot can’t have kids. He’s a _plant_. But it’s a close enough concept, I guess." Thor raised an eyebrow at him expectantly, and Rocket sighed.

"Anyway, I dreamt we never made it out. We finally make it through the gate, and then...we’re back in that goddamn room, like we never left.” Rocket’s throat suddenly felt tight, the dream rushing back to him in far more detail than he would have liked. Dammit, this was why he got up to eat in the first place. But something in Thor’s expression, a mixture of patience and understanding, encouraged him to continue, so he did, despite the increasing difficulty in keeping his voice steady.

“This time, though, when I turn to Groot, it’s little Groot. He’s so confused and afraid, and there’s nothing I can do, and he just…” Rocket can’t finish. He’d relived that moment in his mind over and over again during those five long years after Thanos snapped away half the universe. Even getting Groot back did nothing to ease the pain and the terrible helplessness he’d felt as Groot disintegrated before his eyes. He bought Groot almost a hundred new videogames and checked up on him every few hours, just to make sure he was still there, but nothing could erase the guilt of having survived without him. Worse still was the ceaseless, gnawing terror that if he turned his back for too long, Groot would be gone, leaving behind nothing but a pile of dust.

“Rabbit?” Thor asked, grabbing Rocket’s shoulder in a firm grip and shaking him lightly.

“Tch, look at me, getting all upset over a stupid dream.” Rocket laughed, and still Thor looked at him with those sad, knowing eyes.

“You have him now, and that’s what matters,” Thor said. Rocket nodded, more guilt piling itself in alongside the now-meaningless survivor’s guilt. Thor was right. Everyone Rocket had lost he’d regained—everyone except Gamora, but at least another version of her was running around somewhere in the galaxy. Knowing that was enough. But Thor, he’d lost everyone he’d ever loved, and what did he get? A shipful of losers who constantly harped on his weight, that’s what he got.

Rocket made a mental note to be nicer to Thor, one that would likely be forgotten as soon as his head reunited with his pillow. For now, however, Rocket shoved a piece of apple into his mouth to avoid saying anything too raw. Thor, for his part, nibbled at the apple, not even finishing it before Rocket had killed off the remaining slices.

No longer having an excuse to stay in the kitchen, Rocket set the empty container in the sink and looked towards the refrigerator door still hanging ajar.

“You know, it isn’t good to leave this open,” Rocket said. Thor nodded.

“I’ll close it when I go to bed,” he assured him. Rocket shrugged, but couldn’t quite step away. Thor noticed his hesitation with a frown.

“I can turn on a light. I just didn’t want to wake the rest of the crew.”

“It’s not that. It’s…if you need to talk, you know I’m here for you, right?” Rocket looked at Thor earnestly, taking in Thor’s sagging stomach and unkempt hair without a trace of mockery. It was easy to dismiss Thor’s pain when his own had been so demanding, but now he no longer had an excuse. If Thor needed him, he would be there for him. Somebody had to be. But Thor surprised him with a genuine smile, and he bent down to be more on Rocket’s level. For a split second, his hand went towards Rocket’s head as though to pet him, but he seemed to think better of it and grabbed his shoulder instead, much to Rocket’s relief.

“Thank you,” Thor said in his deep, gentle voice. “I may take you up on your offer, but not tonight.”

The warmth emanating from both Thor’s expression and his physical proximity (the man was like a furnace) was a little more than Rocket could bear, so he nodded and pulled away, bidding his goodnight and hurrying off down the hall. Behind him, he heard Thor shutting the fridge door and taking his place on the vacated stool. Rocket felt bad about letting him sit alone in the dark, but he wasn’t going to tell a full grown man how to live his life. He made a quick detour to peek into Groot’s room, which was already cracked open from having visited several hours prior, and saw Groot sleeping soundly on his vine-covered bed. He was spread out as though to take up as much room as possible, one foot propped up against the wall as though he’d been trying to walk up it before falling asleep. Satisfied, Rocket slipped into his own room and crawled back under his covers.

He did not have another nightmare that night.


End file.
